


Dream of Electric Sheep

by Nicolinan



Category: Bladerunner 1982
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 02:45:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13754610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicolinan/pseuds/Nicolinan
Summary: Bladerunner Adrienne Santos is given the mission to 'retire' two replicants that illegally stays in Los Angeles. It turns out to be more than just another job; it will be a hard lesson in love, hate, and what really constitutes intelligent life. Roy Batty/OFC





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Bladerunner or any of the characters you might recognize from the movie. I do own the character of Adrienne Santos.

Warnings: Adult situations, Death, Character death, Moderately explicit sexual content, Graphic violence, Harsh language, Murder, Semi-non-consensual sex, Torture.

The quotes are all from W. Blake.

 

**PART ONE**

 

_**'Cruelty has a human heart'** _

-

'Do androids dream of electric sheep?'

I know it now. Replicants dream. They dream of being men, they dream of being accepted, loved and appreciated for the perfect living creatures they are. They dream of not being alone when they die.

Just like the rest of us.

Man created its equal, designed it with a brilliant mind, heightened senses and superior physical abilities until it outshone them - and then they put them out in the off-world colonies, as mere slaves, breaking new ground for man.

This new improved version started to turn against its creator, unsatisfied with their lot as soldier-slaves, miner-slaves, pleasure-slaves … they became dangerous. So their life span was cut into only a few years. So they wouldn't have time to learn. So they wouldn't start feeling, wanting… yearning… So they wouldn't strive for what man have and discover the painful truth about their own existence.

Man failed.

After a bloody mutiny by a NEXUS 6 combat team in an off-world colony, replicants were declared illegal on earth - under penalty of death. Special police squads - Bladerunner Units - had orders to shoot to kill, upon detection, any trespassing replicant. This was not called execution. It was called retirement.

They were even denied their death.

Do they mourn their short life? Do they feel sadness over their fallen comrades? Do they cry? I know for a fact that they don't know tears. The ability to cry, the gift to feel your eyes water in grief or joy, was never given to them. Maybe it wasn't considered necessary? Or maybe it was seen as a weakness they didn't need to have?

Roy howled in pain, though. When Pris was taken from him… when she was retired, he mourned. It was more real, more emotional than anything I'd ever felt.

Then he went on his final killing spree.

Me.

I am Adrienne Santos and I am a Bladerunner. I inherited Pris and Roy from Rick Deckard when he suddenly went missing in the middle of the mission. It might be a coincidence, but Eldon Tyrell's skin job, Rachael, disappeared at the same time. I know what I think. I leave it be. I liked Deckard. He saved my life once and I owe him. I hope they'll be happy.

For as long as it lasts.

 

_**Episode 1:1, Sebastian's apartment, the last night** _

Pris is beautiful.

I feel a quickly fleeing jealousy as I see her blond, fair complex and tall, lean form. Compared to my own stubby body and ragged black hair, she looks like an angel. They must be a perfect match. A deadly match.

The feeling of admiration is immediately replaced by adrenaline. She attacks me furiously. She could've been an amazing artist, flying through the fuckin' air like there were no laws of gravitation. I shoot at her several times, miss all the time, and she keeps coming at me. My chest hurts and I cough blood. I've probably broken a rib or two and definitely my nose. I spit out half a tooth. The worst, though, is all the times my head slams against the floor.

'Pleasure model', my ass!

In a haze, I see her coming at me again. That's a new thing. I haven't even seen her before, just felt the pain. Maybe she's getting cocky because I look beaten? I lift the tip of my gun a couple of inches from the floor and fire. It jerks to life in my hand.

Onetwothree.

Pris keeps falling until she hits the opposite wall. I lie completely still for a moment, then I stagger to my feet, ready to shoot again, but she's a goner.

Unable to move, my mouth hanging open because I can't breathe through my nose any more, I stare at her macabre death dance. She screams and twitches until the spark that shone so brightly finally and reluctantly dies.

The rustle from back at the main entrance alerts me that there's still one to go.

Batty.

I have to keep moving and wince as I sneak out of the apartment.

Then the howling starts.

 

_**Episode 1:2, Mall across Los Angeles, Three Days earlier** _

Had I known what Bryant asked of me that afternoon when he and Gaff caught up with me in the lively mall on the outskirts of Los Angeles, I would have declined more determinedly. I'd have allowed them to rob me of my job, my place, my non-existing friends… anything would have been better than what was awaiting me.

But I had no idea.

"Enjoying your time off, Mademoiselle?" Gaff barked.

I jerked and almost dropped my bags. I hadn't seen them coming. "Boss," I acknowledged to Bryant, dismissing Gaff. I loathed the man. He was a creep.

"Cooking this night, Santos?" Gaff asked and crooked a finger inside one of my brown grocery bags.

I snatched it away from him and gave him a dirty look. "None of your damn business. Watcha doin' here? Cat coughed you back up again?"

"Clever, very clever," he grinned. "Bueno."

I ignored him as I kept walking and turned back to Bryant. "Thought I told you guys to give me a break?"

Bryant was never much for pleasantries. "We've got a job for you."

"I have a job. I don't do that shit any more. I'm patrolling now. You know that."

"Four skin jobs. Jumped a shuttle off-world, killed the crew and passengers. We found the shuttle drifting off the coast two weeks ago, so we know they're around."

"That can't possibly be my problem since I'm not WORKING FOR YOU anymore!" I stopped. "Besides, I thought Deckard was on that?"

"He was."

A cold spear stabbed my heart and I stopped for a moment.

"He's disappeared," Bryant went on.

I frowned. "What do you mean 'disappeared'?"

"What I said. He's gone AWOL. Papers and clothes gone too."

Inwardly, I sighed with relief. He wasn't dead. Deckard had been one of the few good Blade Runners, and by 'good' I didn't mean he was frickin' trigger happy, like the rest of them. Like the son-of-a-bitch Gaff, like Elnard, like Hollen.

Deckard had had a conscience.

I brushed past him and kept walking towards the exit. "Still can't see why this is of my concern."

Gaff's butt-ugly face suddenly appeared in my field of vision, his bad eye glimmering threateningly. "Boss wasn't FINITO yet. It's RUDE to walk out mid talkie-talkie." Well eat sh- I stopped, glared menacingly at him and turned to Bryant, wanting to crush something. I didn't want to get sucked back into the killing, the lonely life, the bravado of the murdering cops that had sought out the only branch within LAPD where you actually got to kill. A lot.

"Deckard's already retired two of'em. Makes it two left." Well, I know math! "One male and one female. The male's a tricky son-of-a-bitch, he's been one of our elite soldiers at the frontiers… the female's a pleasure model, not to be underestim-"

"Whadda ya want from me?" I interrupted him. I really didn't want to hear any more. "I'm just a reg cop now. I don't deal shit like this anymore. I help old ladies cross the street, catch the same junkie who robs Wang at the local corner noodle every Frid-"

"You know the score, gal," he interrupted calmly. "You're no cop, you're little people. You don't have a say in this. I want you, I get you."

"No choice, huh?" I gritted my teeth, knowing the end of this.

He shook his head.

"No choice, gal."

 

_**Episode 2:1, Sebastian's building, the last night** _

The hair on my skin stands straight up as Roy Batty, the last of the four, howls out his anger and his grief. I know I have to be fast, or I'll be SO fucked.

Lord, have mercy on my soul.

But I know he won't. The son-of-a-bitch abandoned me a long time ago. I have a feeling, though, that we are two. Two God-less creatures in here tonight.

Maybe we deserve each other?

My gaze darts between the abandoned galley and the multitude of door-less openings to my left. Water pours down on me through the damaged roof, the acidic rain gnawing its way through all things: living as well as dead. Stay in it too long, it'll eat its way to the bones. The large gun is heavy in my hand and still it sits like united with my flesh. Like old times… I clench my hand tighter. I used to get my kick out of this too once.

Until I missed. Killed a human. Never got over it. I traded her life for my own. I haven't lived a day since, just… survived… I used to sit countless nights, staring at my blaster, wondering how long it'd take before anyone found me.

So I left the fuckin' killin' business and devoted myself to help the little people.

But here I am again. Can't wash the stripes out of the tiger. I wonder, though, who's the predator and who's the prey in this dance? I have a feeling he knows exactly where I am, and that he's only playing me.

Where are you?

Batty has evaded me for the last twenty minutes. I lick my wounded lips and feel with my tongue over the sharp edges of the broken tooth. I was thoroughly beaten up by his mate, Pris, before I killed her. Every breath I take send sharp spikes of pain through my chest. Three blasts in the middle of her sternum ended her vicious attacks and all the hatred. I still hear her screams in my ears and it's sending goosebumps all over my body.

She didn't go easy. None of them ever do. It's as if they love life too much to let go, as if they love life even more than us humans do.

I wonder why?

I move quietly along the upper corridor, my back to the wall, kneeling before I reach each opening, peek in and back again, my heart in my throat.

He keeps howling. Each renewed eerie roar penetrates my head until I want to scream right back. I can hear him moving, the sound of his powerful voice fades and then comes closer again. Sweating, I press myself to the wall to avoid being seen. I squeeze my gun harder. It almost slips in my slick palm before I steady it.

"Adrienne!" he suddenly calls.

I freeze. How the hell…? How did you know it was me? Maybe he's already seen me, or can he freakin' smell me? It wouldn't surprise me one bit.

"Adrieeeennneeee…"

I don't even breathe, cursing the fact that he knows who I am. That he knows too damn well.

"You killed Pris." He suddenly sounds very matter-of-fact, almost amused.

I know I'm gonna die. If I don't put a bullet in him from a distance, I'll die. I know that either he goes because his time is up, or he kills me. Or both. There's no chance in hell I'll survive a close encounter with Batty. I barely made it with Pris, but Batty… he's a one-man killing tool for Christ's sake. He's an army. They made him well, I should know.

I do know.

Just one good shot. That's all I ask. Then I'll be good. I'll be really good...

I slide along the wall, blinking the water out of my eyes, rubbing my forehead with the back of my hand. The rain drives me insane. When all this is over, I'm gonna get the hell out of here and go somewhere sunny. And green. Deckard did the only sane thing. Who the fuck cares what they do with the toys they make? I'm done cleaning up after Tyrell Corporation. Right now, though, I'm unable to back out. I'm sure now that he can smell me, sense my female hormones, the stale sweat, the dirt on my neck because I haven't taken a shower for days, Pris' blood on my hands…

I choke a scream as I suddenly hear him right behind the wall where I crouch.

"You killed my mate," he whispers from the other side of the wall, then his fist slams right through it and grabs my shoulder along with some strands of hair. Finally I scream, loud and shrill.

Roy giggles insanely behind me as I fumbling try to free myself from his steel grip.

"Time to die, 'blade runner'."

 

_**Episode 2:2, Chinese Sector, the night before** _

I moved my few things from the small Rent-a-Room in 'my' part of town and re-installed in one of Tyrell Corporation's apartments downtown, Chinese sector. It was as grey and as boringly clean as the rest of the block. The whole damn city was buzzing with life, scents, noises, vehicles, people, and animals, it was hell any day, but I liked it. It was a charming hell, my kind of hell. Here, though, the corporation had managed to create a dead cold atmosphere in the whole block they'd built for employees.

'For peace in mind'… peace, my ass. If you stopped toying with new life forms, then maybe there'd be some peace.

Took me two days before I tracked the two Nexus 6-models down. I'd gotten rusty during my absence. When I finally found out, it was bloody obvious: they were residing at J. F. Sebastian's, a crippled man, a genius who did genetic engineering for Tyrell.

Of course, when I found them, they were already on their way to Tyrell's.

I watched them ride the elevator up on the outside of the gigantic Tyrell Corporation complex. Sebastian looked like a midget between the two blond giants, one lean, clearly female, and one broad, muscular, very male form.

I don't know how they managed to get Tyrell to let them in, but as I saw the cold light in the small glass box shine on Roy Batty's white hair when the elevator shot up along the exterior of the building, I shuddered.

This will not end well.

The son-of-a-bitch guard up front refused to understand what I could possibly want with Eldon Tyrell at eleven p.m. It didn't help that I flashed him my card and yelled at him. His instructions were crystal clear: Mr Tyrell was not to be disturbed. Apparently he was involved in a game of chess with a friend.

"Friend," I muttered through clenched teeth as I started to shortcut the sector alarm for the closest route to the lifts. "Everything, EVERYTHING, I have to fuckin' do myself!"

I disconnected a small part of the electrical field, by-passing the current, then I squeezed under it. Running towards the nearest entrance, I unsecured my weapon. This could get messy. Guards, replicants, dogs… The kind of monster didn't matter if it stood between them or me. Picking the lock to the door was relatively easy, and disconnecting the alarm was a piece of cake, I had installed the same ones for fuck's sake.

'Nother job, 'nother time... Easier times...

I took the elevator that was still at ground level and pressed at the only button. Tyrell's floor. Praying I wouldn't be too late, I glanced up at the other cage. It was still there, hovering high above me in the night air, unmoving. The speed with which I was propelled upwards sucked my stomach right down to my fucking toes. As I slowed down, I was starting to get a glimpse of Tyrell's place. Fancy. Four forms, one looked like it was going to kiss the other, palms on each side of the other's head, like a caress.

FUUUUUCK!

The smaller of the two started to sink to the floor.

Tyrell.

The other small shape, which I now was close enough to identify as Sebastian, started backing in my direction. I glanced at the display indicating the level.

Fuckin' MOVE!

My elevator had almost come to a full stop when Sebastian ran into the glass cage next to me. I slammed my fists at the doors that still wouldn't open. I could only watch as the male replicant slowly advanced on him and then, with a mercifully quick snap, separated Sebastian's head from his neck.

Nausea surged through me, but instead of throwing up, I stared, transfixed, as their lift started moving downwards. For an endless moment, Roy Batty's amazingly crystal blue eyes met mine, and his lips curled into a smile that would've looked friendly in any other circumstances. My heart stilled in my chest from the intensity with which the killer studied me. I felt like I was a new kind of animal to him. Then they descended fast and I lost sight of them. The doors opened with a silent whisper and I caught a glimpse of Eldon Tyrell, or what was left of the man. Brain matter and blood covered the carpet; his head looked like it had imploded.

I wasn't known to be sensitive, but I vomited all over my boots.

 

_**Episode 3:1, Sebastian's building, the final hour** _

"Time to die," he laughs behind me, his sharp voice piercing through my head. The hair at the back of my neck stands straight up in fear.

I try to tear away from his grip and end up losing significant strands of hair in the struggle. I hear him breathe frighteningly close behind the wall and, getting a sense of direction, I do the only thing possible. I fire my gun right next to my ear, aiming for his forearm. Screaming as the sonic boom trash my eardrum, I am unable to hear him anymore. I stumble away from the wall, my ears ringing.

His hand has disappeared. With my gun raised, I peek around the doorpost, waiting to see the wounded replicant, and find nothing. Not even blood. I massage my shoulder with my gun-hand. His grip almost crushed the bone and I feel the swelling grow under my fingers. Blood is seeping from my left ear, and I wipe the sticky substance off my neck, smearing it on my hand instead.

What the fuck? Not even a bloodstain? Where did he go?

Sneaking deeper into the dark, damp recesses of the building, I search for my nemesis, my last mission, the only remaining killer.

'They slaughtered twenty three people onboard that shuttle, these are no newbies we're lookin' for.' Bryant's cruel statement rings in my head, almost louder than the horrible tinnitus I've acquired after the shot.

One clear shot. Just one. He's not immortal.

Suddenly, I'm violently slammed against the opposite wall. My gun propels away along the floor. I bite my tongue as my head bounce against the hard surface and spit blood. A tooth feels loose, but I have no time to investigate it because Roy Batty is on me again in an instant. He grips my throat and lifts me until my feet dangles above the floor. Vivid images from Tyrell's place surge through my head, and I know this will soon be over. I swallow hard and try to take comfort in knowing that in the end there's only death, and that it'll be fast.

I hope.

In fact, it's all I can hope: that I've pissed him off enough for it to be over quickly.

"Little doll, little doll, so traitorous, so sweet. Soon so DEAD!" He cocks his head and stares at me with his eerie eyes. Then he smiles. His light voice plays with the words, as if he revels in the mere pleasure of speaking.

I squirm and jerk in his grip, slamming my fists into his unyielding body. He doesn't even flinch, instead his smile grows wider. As my eyes roll back and I feel darkness begin to creep into the corners of my consciousness, he leans closer, frowning, and look at me like I'm some strange creature.

"Don't you wanna play with me anymore? Where's the fun in that?"

I sag along the wall as he releases me, he follows me down, his eyes roaming my face and his hands begin to slide down my chest, following the curve of my breasts. I don't feel anything this time. Only that I am very close to death. I choke and cough, blinking to erase the tears that threaten to fall. Not because I'm sad, mind you, and not because I'm afraid, even though I am, but because of the pain in my throat as I cough and try to speak.

I know exactly where it lies. I don't have to look. As Roy raises a hand to catch one of my tears, I burst up with all my remaining power and go for the gun. It's in my hand within a moment.

I roll on the floor and come up on my back.

"Fuck you," I say, and pull the trigger.


	2. Chapter 2

**PART TWO**

**'never be beloved by men… never be by woman loved.'**

 

_**Episode 3:2, My place, the night before** _

I came back to my apartment and was fuckin' exhausted. They had questioned me for two hours and the clock had passed midnight by a good hour. I'd been on the prowl since early this morning and my legs were weak and my mind empty. Two cold, glacial blue, eyes followed me wherever I went and still sent chills down my spine.

I had considered just escaping the same way I'd entered. I'd done nothing good, I hadn't saved anyone, and I had broken into the building. There'd only be a mess. Then I'd realized I'd left my DNA all over the place and that it would be far more suspicious looking if I'd run. So I'd wiped my stomach content off my boots on the plush carpet in Tyrell's condo and walked to the security panel by the entrance.

This time they hadn't treated me with the same nonchalance. Actually, I believe I'd been freakin' close to the beating of my life. Well, up until that point at least. They had disarmed me, and I had been stupid enough to let them. A few moments later I had missed my gun as they were on me like a pack of raging wolves.

It wasn't my fuckin' fault that Tyrell's brain formed a puddle on the floor and that Sebastian's cue ball came rolling out the other lift when the doors opened. These fuckers liked to aim for the head…

I'd have to keep that in mind.

The situation had improved when the cops came, with Bryant in the lead, looking like he was about to have a stroke. Landing on the roof, they then barged down the stairs, entering the scene with their normal ardour and grace.

I'm a bit sarcastic here.

Anyways. Boss got them off my back and I finally got to explain my case.

I can't claim anyone patted my back. Actually, I distinctly recall someone yelling really close to my ear. 'What the FUCK are you waiting for? Go get the fuckin' skin jobs before this gets out!'

Not tonight, I wouldn't. I needed some rest before I got back out there again. A dead Blade Runner wouldn't get the job done. Tomorrow, I'd arm myself to my teeth and head back to Sebastian's place, hoping they'd still hang there.

Two cold eyes flashed before me.

I cracked my neck from side to side and turned on the shower. It had to be scalding. I had to get rid of the vision of Roy Batty snapping Sebastian's head off like he'd flipped a flower off its stalk. I imagined his hands, tendons, knuckles, hardened… The strength that man, replicant, I corrected myself, had to possess was extraordinary.

He's made that way, nothing to get all excited about, Barbie!

I stepped out of my vomit-stinking pants and sweaty top, dropped them on the floor, regarded them for a moment and then kicked them out into the hallway. I'd deal with them later… tomorrow. Stopping before the mirror, I studied my reflection. I rarely did that anymore. When did those lines appear? There had been times when I'd had some amount of vanity, there had been times when I'd been making myself ready for a date… for a lover…

I'd had a life once too.

Long time ago.

I shrugged and stuck my hand in the spray of water, it felt hot enough. It'd do. Just about to rid myself of my underwear and step in, I froze.

What was that?

I'd heard a noise. It wasn't the normal sounds from the aircrafts outside in the lanes, and it didn't come from somewhere in the building. It had come from somewhere close.

Too close.

My hand automatically went to my hip for the gun when I realized I'd just kicked it out into the hallway.

Stupidstupidstupid!

The hair at the back of my neck stood straight up as I peeked out the corridor. Holding my breath, I listened.

Not a soul.

I glanced around me, wasn't there anything I could use as a weapon? My eyes fell on the comb, it had a pointed tip.

It'll do.

 

_**Episode 4:1, outside Sebastian's apartment, final hour** _

His body jerks backwards when his shoulder meets with my bullet. Eat that! I cock my gun to shoot again, but before I can blink, Batty grins, slams a boot against my gun arm and then into my right flank. Then he disappears.

I cough and feel like my intestines just came up my mouth from the pain.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I almost had him. Almost.

But almost's not close enough. On shaky legs, I get up and steer my steps after him. He's gone again.

I have to stop for a moment. Panting, I push my free hand against my midsection. A dull ache is spreading inside after his kick. It feels like something's eating me from the inside.

It hurts.

I hate being weak. I straighten and push the pain away as I glance into the next room. Empty. Every single fuckin' one of these chambers looks exactly the same. The same depressing peeled paint and half-rotten furniture. It appears as though the former residents had to move out in a haste at some point. Probably when the acid rain had made the place inhabitable at some point a few years earlier. It was only Sebastian's apartment that had a roof that didn't leak and furniture that looked usable. It hadn't been posh, though, he must've been making loads of money. It's funny that he'd even chosen to live in quarters like these.

I remember his head rolling out of the lift and reconsider the use of the word 'funny'. Nothing is 'funny' any more. I didn't want this. I was done. But my life keeps spiralling back into violence. Back to blood, vomit, and pain.

Maybe that's my fate, my punishment?

Leaning against a wall, I let the pouring water drip on my face, cleaning it, refreshing my mind. I don't care that it stings, it makes me feel alive. I'll have a rash after. But then again, maybe after tonight there'll be no 'after'.

"Adrienne!" His voice booms through the wall behind me, and then his hand burst right through it and grips my gun arm.

"Not very sporty to fire at an unarmed opponent."

I scream once, with surprise, and try to tear my arm from his crushing grip. I beat at his hand and bend to bite it as he suddenly pulls my arm with him through the hole. Something sharp inside the wall tears open the skin over my elbow and I scream from pain and drop the gun on the wrong side.

"Get off me, you fucker!" I yell.

He snickers. "Ah, little doll… not so cocky anymore… What do you think? Do you think I'm going to break your arm?" He bends at it a little, and my knees buckle, trying to ease the angle he's put my arm in.

My mouth turns dry with fearful anticipation. I know there'll be pain. "What do you care what I think?" I shout back.

Suddenly, he sounds very matter-of-factly again. "You're right. I don't." Then he snaps it.

I can't hold back a roar of pain. You son-of-a… FUUUUUCK! I don't even feel that he has released me until after a couple of seconds. Snatching my arm back through the hole, I stare at it as it hangs in an odd angle.

My arm, my gun arm! Fuckin' HELL!

I drop to my knees and cry right out from the pain that wash over me like tidal waves. With every beat of my heart, the throbbing in my arm increases. I start glancing at my clothing, pondering on how to tie it up when a pair of feet appear before me. I have just enough time to lift my gaze as the first strike hits my head.

"That was for Pris, Adrienne!"

I gasp and recoil, crawling backwards along the floor with my good arm. He follows me, and before I see it, his boot has connected with my stomach again. I cough and bend over, cough again and see that there's dark blood where I've spit.

"And that was for being such a traitorous little human!"

I jerk backwards as he crouches before me and grabs my chin in his hand. I have no resistance left in me as he turns my head first to the left, and then to the right, studying me and my defeat. His other hand comes before my face, and I blink, steeling myself for the hit, but instead he caresses my lips with his thumb. He smears something around my mouth and I know it must be my blood. Then he lowers his head and his lips meet mine. He licks the blood off them, and his tongue taste metallic as he plunges it deep inside my mouth.

What was once such an incredible turn-on now only fills me with white-hot fear.

I know this is the kiss of death.

 

_**Episode 4:2, My place, the night before** _

Holding the comb as a stabbing weapon, I quickly glanced out the corridor again. No one. I took a step out and backed towards the door, checking to see if it's locked. It was. Chances were I was just suffering from paranoia, but I wasn't gonna take any risks.

Quietly, I patted my pants on the floor and got the gun out, then I tiptoed along the length of the hallway and glanced inside the small living room, my heart was in my throat from the adrenaline rush, but my hands didn't tremble one bit. Old habits kicking in.

Kitchen cabinet was to my right, and I could overlook it well from where I was standing. It was empty. Just one room left to go. The door to my bedroom was half closed. I couldn't for the life of me remember if I'd left it that way or not. Collecting myself for one moment, I then kicked it fully open and scanned the room. It was empty too. Releasing a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, I turned and walked right into a tall, rock-hard body. The spotlight in the ceiling shone on his eerily white-blond hair.

Batty!

I gasped and threw myself back, trying to get an angle to shoot. With the speed of lightning, he gripped my arm and twisted the gun out of my hand, emptying the magazine and throwing it out of the room before I'd even blinked.

To be really honest, I almost peed myself.

 

_**Episode 5:1, Sebastian's building, final half hour** _

Get it fuckin' over with you animal!

"I'm giving you ten seconds, Adrienne. Ten, for showing me what warmth could be. What it could have meant to be human."

"It's…" I rasp. …unexpected.

"Ten. That's more than you gave Pris. That's more than you would have given me. But in your eyes I am no man. In your eyes I am not worthy of life."

"I…" In a way…In a way you are… more… worthy…

He stands and backs a step. "Nine."

FUCK!

I crawl back yet an arms-length but realise I'm just wasting precious time. Actually sticking to his word would be very typically Roy Batty, so I stand on shaky legs, fighting the urge to vomit all over the floor.

He takes yet another step back. His bright eyes glint with a strange kind of wicked malice. He's enjoying himself.

"Eight." He smirks and turns, leaving me alone in the room.

"Seven!"

I hear the roar from the other side of the wall.

Ignoring the pain in my stomach, and barely feeling my damaged arm, I turn on my heel and dart out of the room, heading for the stairs that I believe leads to the rooftop. I can't go down, because that's where he seems to be heading, probably figuring I'll try to escape there.

"Six!" His voice echoes outside in the stairwell.

I don't give a shit. I realise my objective has changed. I need to escape and regroup.

"FIVE!"

 

**_Episode 5:2, My bedroom, the night before_ **

His presence scared the shit out of me and I wasn't thinking. I spun around, slamming my elbow into his chin as I moved, feeling a brief moment of satisfaction when his head rocked back from the force. Dodging as his counter strike came I punched him in the midsection. His fist brushed past my cheek but I recoiled faster.

Haven't forgotten it! Motherfucker, you ain't getting my head!

Aiming for his throat, I used the outside of my hand as a weapon, while I jerked my knee up to connect with his crotch. I heard him gasp and hiss, and I was slightly surprised by how easy I was overpowering him.

I should've taken it as a warning, but high on adrenaline, I never stopped and wondered. Round kicking his sorry replicant-ass, catching his legs, I made him fall hard to the floor with me on top, almost tripping over. I think he got a chunk of my hair, and I had a bluish swelling on my cheek later, but I don't remember any pain. I was in a flow. My body worked with me in a symphony of beats and kicks, and finally I had him.

Panting hard, I had my knee pressed onto his Adam's apple. I held his arm tightly bent back in a seriously painful grip. Move and I break it!

"Don't move!" I snarled. Fuck! What now?

"Whatcha doin' here? How do you know who I am, how do you know where I live?" I bent his arm even more, making him grimace and arch with pain. "Answer! Are there more coming?"

I suddenly realised I had only won the first round. He was temporarily immobilised, but I needed to call for help. No! My mind wasn't working right. I need to kill you.

Meeting his sharp eyes, I twitched, suddenly very aware of his demanding presence and how his warm slick skin felt in my grasp. A thin layer of sweat covered his face, and he grimaced as I clenched my fists even harder. I couldn't tear my eyes off of his.

You know what to do, Adrienne. Maybe he saw something in my gaze? Maybe he knew this was it? I started to lay more of my weight on the knee over his windpipe, choking him.

He opened his mouth and let out a hoarse growl that chilled my spine, then he started to raise his arm.

Nononono…you can't!

I trembled as I tried to keep him down. The muscles in his neck bulged as he, in spite of the grip, in spite of the fact that it should be impossible, lifted his arm higher and higher, at the same time easing the pressure of my knee. I couldn't tear my eyes off of his as his grimace turned into a smirk, only a light twitching by his temple revealing that he was struggling at all. Sweat erupted along my back as I realised I was losing, that in a moment he'd have me. I let him go just before he'd have gripped me, shoved his arm away and jumped back and out of reach.

My eyes darted around the room as he started to rise. I had nowhere to go. Behind me were only windows, and we were on the 97'th floor. Suicide in front, suicide behind. No choice. I dashed to the left. Batty spread his arms out wide and took a step in the same direction. I stopped and jumped to the right to get past him, but he easily slid in my way.

Then his long arms caught me and I heard a chuckle.

I screamed out loud and kicked hard, ripping my arm free from his hold. My cheeks flushed when I saw that he didn't look bothered at all, not in pain at all. He was smirking. His predatory white teeth glinting between his lips. His eyes shining with victory.

Fuck YOU!

I screamed again and slammed my elbow into his chest. I heard him gasp and dodged his left arm that searched for me, then I dove under it and reached the hallway.

I felt it, I had it, it was so close… freedom…. And so far away.

I never had it.

 

_**Episode 6:1, rooftop, final twenty minutes** _

"FOUR!"

His roar echoes through the building behind me as I run up the stairs that I believe lead to the roof. My breath is too heavy, I know I'm in better shape than this. I think I might be losing blood somewhere. I know my body well and I know it's acting strangely. The dull ache within that pound with every step I take gives me a hint of what might be wrong. Some internal injury. Maybe liver… or spleen… I can't define it. I hurt all over.

First Pris… and then Batty…

I just wanna get away. Fun's over. I'm pretty sure I need med care, but I ignore the searing pains. I have to. I'm trained to. Hesitating will only get me killed.

I yank at the door at the top of the stairs. It's locked. FUCK! I yank the handle again, and then I take a step back and slam my boot against the door, making it crack. I sweat profusely. Stopping for a moment to inhale, I then give it yet another kick. The door crashes open and the sound of the heavy rain is suddenly on me.

I look behind me, I haven't heard his countdown for the last few seconds, and most likely he's done.

The rain soaks me in an instant as I step out on the roof. The night air is filled with stale smells from garbage and the sharper scent of gasoline. I shut the damaged door behind me and glance around, blinking the water out of my eyes.

Escape. Hiding place.

 

_**Episode 6:2, My bedroom, the night before** _

The arm that snaked around me was like a log, his muscles like steel, unyielding, merciless. I kicked and screamed inarticulate curses as he shoved me against the wall, his other hand around my throat. NO! The hair at the back of my neck stood straight up in fear.

Notmyheadnotlikethat! An involuntary tear welled up in the corner of my eye.

No! Whimp! With a roar, I slammed my feet into the wall in front of me and kicked back hard, making us both topple over my bed with me on top. Batty didn't let go, though, his grip around my throat tightened and I gasped from the lack of air. I tried to pry his hand away, and clawed for his face where I found an eye. Pressing my thumb onto his eyeball emitted a growl from him, and he loosened his grip enough for me to throw myself up and out of his grip.

The feeling of success was short lived. He was on me the next moment with one arm around my waist, lifting me off the floor so I couldn't use the leverage, the other hand on my throat, squeezing warningly.

"Where are you goin' in such a hurry?" asked his amused voice in my ear.

I panted hard, and my heart tried to beat a hole in my chest wall. He didn't sound strained at all. You played me all along! I'd never had him. I squirmed and he squeezed harder, I stilled, hanging in his grip, and he loosened the hand.

"Get it over with," I snarled. Stop toying with me!

"Get what over with?" he asked, almost cheerfully. I felt the tips of my toes touch the floor, and sank down, grateful to be standing, his pressure on my throat easing a little more. "Such a little fighter," he purred.

His voice so close to my earlobe made me shiver, and goosebumps spread along the side of my neck. I struggled again, he cut my air supply, I stilled, finally giving up, and he let me breathe. I went limp, feeling like a tiny rag doll in the arms of this giant man. Replicant, I reminded myself.

"Whadda ya want?" I rasped thickly, swallowing hard against his palm.

He didn't answer, instead he let the hand around my waist slide across my belly. I didn't breathe, and this time it wasn't because he didn't let me, it was because I was completely unable to anyway. There was something about that hand… as if he was electric. Between the naked skin on my belly and his warm, calloused palm, a field of lightning bolts was created. I squirmed again and he increased the pressure on my larynx, making me still once more.

"I saw you," he murmured in my ear, following the curve of my belly up to the edge of the bra. Nothing could hide how hard my heart beat. It thumped heavily in my chest, right under his palm.

"You followed me here?" I squeaked, hating how my voice suddenly sounded, blaming it on the choking.

"I wonder who you might be?" His hand cupped one breast through the fabric of my bra, and I was suddenly very self-conscious over how ill-fitted and faded from years of use and washing the piece was.

I cleared my throat. "No one. I'm no one."

His fingers found my nipple through the material and twisted it, making me arch with a sudden surge of lust.

"Wrong answer," he said calmly and pinched harder.

__

_**Episode 7:1, rooftop, final fifteen minutes** _

The roof is full of air condition attires and vent hubs. Over at the far left there's a water reservoir. Plenty of places to hide, but impossible to overlook at the same time. The rain clattering against the surface of the roof is deafening and the flashing lights from the commercial shuttles play across the surface in an almost giddy way as the drips hits the ankle-high water.

I run a few steps straight ahead, then I glance behind me as I take a sharp left. I survey the surrounding buildings. I have to be able to jump to another rooftop and then get down to street level. If I don't, I'm smoked.

There's no sign of Batty. I doubt that I've had him fooled. I just hope that I have enough time to make a run for it.

My heart pounds hard as I evaluate the distance between the two buildings. Ten, fifteen feet… It can be done. If I'd had my full strength, I hadn't had a doubt.

I take a couple of steps forward, wince as a sharp pain shoots through my stomach, and then I back. One. Two. Three. Fo… I scream right out as I back into something hard but at the same time definitely organic.

Batty!

 

_**Episode 7:2, My bedroom, the night before** _

I gasped and would've recoiled if I'd had somewhere to go, other than even closer to his chest.

"I'm-" I gasped again as he pulled down the cup of my bra and covered my breast with his hand. "I work at TyRELL corporat…" When his fingers found my unprotected nipple, I couldn't control the tone of my voice any more and almost screamed out the words.

Go… away…

FUCK… me…

 

_**Episode 8:1, Rooftop, final fifteen minutes** _

I slam my elbow into his midsection, using the little element of surprise. I hear him grunt. I turn and take a swipe at him, but he's gone.

Fuck! Where? I blink to clear my eyes as I spin the full circle. Nowhere.

The hit comes unexpectedly from my left and I fall, my head feeling like it's about to explode. When his boot slams into my stomach again, I grab his calf and spin around to bring him out of balance.

Batty falls before me, and I jerk and pull to break loose from under his leg. Instead I receive a hit from his other leg, hitting my cheek and ear.

Trembling, I sway for a moment, and then I fall on hands and knees and throw up. Even in the rain and the dark I can see that it looks like pure blood. I choke and gasp as my head is tugged back by a hand gripping my hair and another hand on my throat. His voice is soft in my ear.

"Zero."


	3. Chapter 3

**PART THREE**

 

**'To those poor souls who dwell in night.'**

 

_**Episode 8:2, My bed, the night before** _

My eyelids fluttered as his other hand left my throat and traced an invisible path past my other breast, down along my belly and without any further introduction slid inside my panties. I already knew he'd affected me far beyond a heavy breathing, and now, well… he knew too.

"And… what is it you do… at Tyrell Corporation?" he asked deceptively calmly as his fingers started to move inside me.

"Uh… seCUrity…"

The answer seemed to satisfy him. It sounds pathetic, but when he started to kiss the side of my neck while still massaging my breasts and thrusting, God only knows how many, fingers in and out of my pussy, I started to tremble uncontrollably.

"What do you WANT?" I screamed as I arched in his grip and couldn't help thrusting back with increasing force.

"I saw you…" he murmured into my neck.

No shit! "Uh," was my intelligent reply.

"You wanted me."

You don't know how much! "Uhm… I…" Well…

"I want to know how you people feel… once… just once…"

No. "I don't understand," I panted. Even though I did very well.

"I want to make love to a woman… to you…" He said it simply, almost childishly.

Hadn't I been so madly excited and afraid, I'd have smiled. In a way he seemed like just a boy. A boy who killed 23 people without blinking… who crushed Tyrell's head between his bare hands… THESE hands…

I'm going to kill you.

The realisation made me hotter, hungrier, than I'd ever been in my entire life before. Just one more attempt at reason. "No, I… can't…"

"Did you ever think it was up to you?" he chuckled. "I've seen you humans, you have no respect for life, you don't love, you lack the ability to appreciate the gifts you've been given, you're controlled by greed, envy and sex. Who are you to say no?"

I shook my head, but I'm not sure it even moved noticeably. A rhythmically beating hum was building between my thighs and I had problems focusing on what he was saying.

"Come again?" he whispered in my ear.

 

_**Episode 9:1, Rooftop, final ten minutes** _

I swallow hard against his hand as it closes harder around my throat and I feel him laugh behind me.

"I thought you were supposed to be good," he taunts.

"I'd retired," I whisper, unable to speak out loud any more. I don't know if he heard me.

"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is… to be a slave. Fear. That is all you want from us… or fear, our submission." He spit the last words in my damaged ear.

I hear them muffled, as if from a distance. He rips me around and throws my body with amazing force through the air. I hit something hard and sag into a heap. From a weird angle, I watch as he slowly stands. Like a god, rising from the dead, he seems to materialize out of the roof itself. I twitch to life as he slowly walks towards me.

"I'm coming," he singsongs, the sound of his voice echoing between the walls of the adjacent buildings.

I have to get off this fuckin' roof! I heave myself up on a shaky arm, ignoring the pain, jumping to my feet. And then I run. I have no strength. I know I won't make it. I don't care. Anything is better than allowing Roy Batty to tear me to pieces. I've seen his work. It's impressing. It's not gonna happen to me.

He's faster.

I don't even make it to the edge of the roof. I propel forward, trying to dodge the hit. My head flings to the side from the force of the impact and I spit metallic tasting saliva that taints the surface red before the rain dissolves it.

That. Hurt!

I'm staggering, my arms flailing to try to find some support. A boot clad foot hits my belly and I fall to the wet roof, my hands and knees disappear in the several inches deep water. It's cold, but I barely feel it now. I can't hold back the wave of nausea, and I throw up again. Thick, sticky blood. Unable to focus on Batty's whereabouts, I sag and turn over on my back with a groan. The relentless rain hurts as it hammers on my skin. The light from the city is shadowed and I look up at Roy. His eyes look like they are lit from within. A commercial shuttle passes our heads. A mechanical female-like voice seductively keeps repeating the same message: 'Go to the Off-World Colonies: your chance for a new life.' The playing spotlights from the shuttle makes his appearance glow. He smiles.

I know there's no such thing as a second chance.

And I am afraid.

 

_**Episode 9:2, My bed, the night Before** _

"No," I croaked hoarsely, not entirely sure what I said no to. His demand? My building orgasm? The claim that human were driven by greed, that we were all so bad? That I stayed liked glued to his body even though he didn't hold me that hard anymore? That the pleasure he gave me was enough to make me NOT want to try to kill him – at least not now?

Now... no, but soon… 

I groaned out loud when he suddenly pulled away his hands, leaving me on the verge of imploding. I was just going to take a shaky step away from him, my survival instincts attempting to kick in, when he shoved me, making me land on my back on the bed. There was nothing I could do but watch as the man, replicant, before me unhooked the clasp to his pants, letting them fall, and pulled off his shirt. I may have been a Bladerunner, a professional killer, and the soon-naked man in front of me may have been my prey, but I was also woman enough to appreciate the sight. My legs still trembled when he sank down with one knee next to me and placed his large hands on my hips.

"Who am I?" he asked.

I shook my head mutely.

Smiling wickedly while staring down at me with unreadable eyes, he crooked his fingers inside my panties and began to pull.

"What am I?"

 

_**Episode 10:1, Rooftop, Final five minutes** _

"Go fuck yourself," I whisper with what feels like my final breath. I can't take my eyes off his. It's like trying to look away from a train about to crash into you. Witnessing my own final moments suddenly becomes a fascinatingly morbid obsession.

He crouches before me, his hand grips my chin, almost gently, then I rock away from a blow so hard that I can hear something snap in my neck. No! I fight the wish to slip into unconsciousness and instead starts dragging my battered body towards what I know must be the edge of the roof. I know it can't be many feet away. I don't even bother to look for him.

"Where are you going?" His voice suddenly sounds amused.

Moving forward, I ignore him, fuelled by fear as I have no energy left. I want to die. I want to die now. I can't take any more. A bolt of triumph surges through my chest when I touch an edge. Without hesitating, I heave myself the few inches further that is needed, ignoring the pain from my chest, abdomen, my broken arm and from whatever is wrong with my neck.

Soon the hurt will be over.

 

_**Episode 10:2, My bed, The night before** _

Initially, he hurt me.

I fought the pain, fought HIM. I thought it was intentional, I didn't know that he didn't know better. I guessed the angel-like Pris was tougher built.

Suddenly he stopped. A hand came into my foggy vision and the tip of a finger brushed some of the wetness off my cheek. "What is this?" he asked.

I closed my eyes, humiliated, mortified with shame. I was weak. I was female. I was crying.

I had been so turned on. This non-human, this replicant who was more male than any man I'd ever met, combined with the completely breathtaking fact that I had to kill him the first chance I got, had gotten me so aroused that I'd almost had a freakin' orgasm at the mere thought. Then, he'd invaded me. He was a giant in more ways than what first met the eye, and I hadn't been with a man for years. I'd fought for my life, or so it felt, but he had just forced me and it had turned into rape.

I don't know if I bawled because of the pain, or because I felt so betrayed by my own stupid body.

"Why are your cheeks wet?"

I cleared my throat, using the reprieve to catch my breath. At least he didn't move in me anymore. "You're fuckin' hurtin' me, you moron," I spat.

He bent his head closer and licked my cheek. His tongue was warm, soft and wet. "It's salty… what is this? Why have your eyes turned into… lakes?"

"You don't know tears?" I was stunned. I couldn't believe my ears. "You don't cry?"

He shook his head. "No. Do you 'cry' when you hurt? Do all… men 'cry'?"

The weird exchange calmed me a little. He still didn't move, and it gave me a chance to recuperate, to adjust. His weight on me, his warm skin against mine, his scent… didn't feel bad at all now that I caught up.

"Yes… yes, we do… sometimes… for different reasons."

"Emotions?" he asked.

Did I hear a streak of bitterness? I nodded and looked up, studying his face closer. His appearance kept changing, from merciless to friendly, from cruel to peaceful, from cold to childishly questioning. 'What am I?'

You don't know… who you are? What you are? Are you all like this? Were there more to the replicants than we'd been told? Were they just as complex creatures as we claimed to be? Maybe we weren't the only intelligent living being originating from earth any more? Maybe we had real competition? I had seen them as mere robots, as a life form lower than worms. That's how we'd been taught.

Killed twenty three civilians…

No. You're still a murderer. No matter how interesting you are, you're still too dangerous.

"Emotions," he said again and wiped the wetness off my cheeks.

When he moved again, he was gentler. This time it didn't hurt.

 

_**Episode 11:1, Rooftop, Final minutes** _

I fall.

It's like an elevator that suddenly stops. The movement ends abruptly, and I hear someone scream.

When Roy drops me by his feet, I realize it's my own hollers of agony that I hear.

 

_**Episode 11:2, My bed, the night Before** _

I couldn't show him love.

It's a cruel fact of life. You can't teach what you don't know. But I could show him how to handle a woman. A human woman. How to handle me.

And it was good enough for both of us.

 

_**Episode 12:1, Rooftop, finale** _

I curl up into a little ball by his feet. I can only take very shallow breaths, and I feel unbelievably weak. I can't even lift a finger any more. I'm cold, my trembling only seems to get worse, and I find myself praying, for the first time since I was a kid.

Please, God, I can't take any more. Please, let him stop torturing me. I know I'll go to hell for what I've done… but please…

"Wh- …y?" I rasp to his feet.

Roy lifts me in his arms and carry me a few steps to a little spot that actually have some cover from the rain.

I scream from the searing pain deep inside when he moves me.

"I do not know. It..." He shrugs. "It doesn't matter anymore. I can't win." He blinks some water out of his eyes and places me with my back against a cold wall.

"You already… have," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I'm still not looking at him and my body sags more and more along the flat surface behind me.

"You will die from your injuries." He sounds unfazed, calculating, as if he's made an equation in his head from my state and simply came to this conclusion. Like there's nothing more to it. He raises his hand and I should flinch, but I can’t move any more. Then he slowly pulls strands of wet hair out of my face. "A little bird with a broken body…" His voice is unexpectedly friendly.

I should be sad… or angry… or scared, but I feel absolutely nothing. I attempt a shrug. It sets off a new sharp pain in my neck and I gasp. "Why did… you pull me up? You… want me… dead." It's hard to speak. Everything inside me is on fire.

"It's happening," he says.

For the first time since before I tried to leave the roof, I look up at him. He's crouching before me. He has bloodstains across his torso, and his face is dirt-streaked. I'm betting my face looks a lot worse. His hair and face glows white, illuminated from the spotlights above. He looks magnificent. Even now, even beaten and dying, I'm in awe. Again that image of a creature sent from God washes over me. Like he had a purpose. Like he was sent here for a task. A divine task. I shiver and my head starts to spin. What was it? Maybe it was to kill Tyrell, after all… maybe it really was?

Maybe God sent you like an angel to put a stop to man's play with life and creation.

 

_**Episode 12:2, My bed, finale** _

"Why me?" After, I had to ask.

"'Soon my Angel came again. I was arm'd, he came in vain: For the time of youth was fled, And grey hairs were on my head.'" He smiled, frowning, the creases on his forehead deepening. For a moment he looked heart-achingly sad. "My time is soon up."

I nodded slowly and regarded him. I knew that. I knew they were only given a four-year life span. A Nexus 6, a combat model, reciting poetry, wanting to know about love... I was too caught up in the moment to realize the absurdity of it. No wonder he isn't satisfied with his brief life.

"You… you saw me, I saw it… you saw me…" He cocked his head, his eyes intent on mine. "Why is that?"

"I thought you were beautiful, uh… perfect." In the intimacy after sex, still naked in each other’s arms, the words jumped out of my mouth before I could stop them. I blushed. You always talk before you think! Stupid! I rolled to the side, collected the top sheet and wrapped it around my body.

"Beautiful." He tasted the word, then he rose and began pacing the floor in front of me. "What is beautiful?"

"Ehm…" Right, that's for me… I snorted inwardly and coughed. "Ehm…” shit, “flowers in the spring after the long winter… a child's laughter… birth…" I sighed. "Getting really pissed… forgetting…"

He stopped and turned to look at me, his eyes narrowing slightly. "That sounds like a rather subjective point of view."

"Emotions are subjective," I said. I raised my hands and touched his forehead, wondering what he'd looked like when he'd… been made… at the time of his inception, if he'd looked as troubled then, as scarred from life. Most likely not. "I'm sure there are emotions in there too… thoughts… want… love…" And mercy I hope…

He shook his head and I lowered my hand. "We weren't made that way. We don't have them. It makes us good labor. Good SLAVE labor."

"But you are here… seeking answers… that means you have questions… it means you worry. That's an emotion, Roy."

He regarded me. "No."

I tried again. "Anger. How do you feel about Tyrell? What does it do to you, that they only let you live four years?"

His eyes narrowed, darkening slightly, then a smile, a deadly frightening, and at the same time beautiful, smile spread over his features. "Fiery the Angels fell…"

"Yes." I nodded eagerly. There you go! "Exactly."

While I watched, he gathered his clothes and put them back on. A hundred thoughts fought for a place in my fucked-up head, but I pushed them all down.

He turned once and smiled darkly. "Goodbye… Adrienne." Then the door closed behind him.

I never told you my name.

When he'd left, I was unable to move. I knew my gun had to be just outside the bedroom door. If I was quick, I could assemble it and maybe I'd have a chance to catch up with him in the corridor outside my apartment. But I didn't. Instead I curled up into a little ball, wrapped in my sheet, and cried.

I don't fuckin' know why I bawled. I don't wanna think about it.

I dreamed.

I dreamed of angels and demons, of blood and revenge.

I dreamed of death.

 

**_Episode 13, the last moments_ **

God, I'm getting delirious.

"What's happening?"

No… I don't think I wanna hear…

"Time… is up…"

What? I study him closer. No… His hands are crooked and look useless. He has sunken lower and seems to have stiffened. Like his body isn't following him any more. His eyes glows, but his cheeks have sort of caved in. No. No, there must be some other way. "Isn't there… anything to do?" I can't see him go. I feel panic rise in my chest. I'm not ready yet. I don't know why… but life suddenly seems so utterly precious. His. Mine. All life.

"Stay, please…" His voice is low and hoarse and he grins slowly, apologetically. Then the half-smile stays on his face for a few moments longer, like it's frozen there. It gives his features a frightening expression.

"I'm sorry…" I whisper. And I am. I'm so terribly sorry for him. That he couldn't reach what he wanted, that he couldn't feel… live… I know time is short for us both, there's no room for lies, no need for deception. I wince when I swallow. "Hadn't we been… Had the circumstances been… other… If we had met…" I start over, grimacing from the pain in my chest. "You are a man, Roy." I cough so hard it feels like my chest is ripping itself to pieces. "A man. You already are what you wanted to be. Everything. You've lived… so very beautifully…" In spite of white hot pain screaming inside I shuffle slightly closer to him, until our cold, wet shoulders touch each other, I grasp for his hand and he takes my hand in his. I drop my head back against the wall. It's become hard to hold it up anyway.

"A man," he croaks and slowly shakes his head. "No man…could have seen…" He swallows hard and grimace. "No man… would have survived…" His eyes narrows and he seems to drift.

He's quiet and doesn't move for a long time. Maybe it's over? Suddenly he speaks again. "I've seen things… you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams… glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those… moments… will be lost… in time. Like tears… in… rain…"

It's poetry. His soft, slightly strained voice, paints these beautiful images, and suddenly I am there with him. I see the colors, the supernovas exploding, the fireworks… the beauty in his eyes, in his mind. And he's right. No man could have seen it. Not the way he's seen and appreciated the true brilliance of creation. We're not worthy. Maybe that's why we're so afraid of them?

"Time… to die." He smiles, emitting a low grunt from the effort.

I can only watch.

The relentless rain pours steady around us. I look at the man before me, his crooked hand is cold as I hold it in my own. He doesn't move, but he's still watching me.

I wish I knew what he is thinking. Does he see images from his life? Does he remember loved ones in these last moments? Can a created killing machine love?

I don't know.

I wish I knew.

Soon it won't matter - to any of us.

I wish I knew.

I watch him before me as he slowly closes his eyes. His eyelids twitch.

I know replicants dream. But they don't dream of electric sheep. That's ridiculous.

 

**_Episode 14_ **

Alone

I'm alone.

Batty hasn't moved for a long time now.

I've dreamt.

Blue eyes. An angel.

I think the rain has stopped. There's no pain. I lean my head on his cold shoulder.

Time to dream.

Time to die.

 

**_THE END_ **


End file.
